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GANGE 

—OR— 

ROLLO OF NORMANDY 




MEMORIAL, ESSAY 



PUBLISHED BY 

OLAF E. RAY 

CHICAGO 

3E 



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ROI^^O OF NORMANDY 

A MEMORIAL ESSAY. 



w 



Memorial Essay 



ON— 



Some Phases of the Maritime Life of France 
and England Directly Traceable 



—TO — 



THE VIKINGS 

BEING THE ESSAY DELIVERED BY 

MR. OLAF E. RAY 

AT THE 

Historical Congress of Rouen, 

June 6th to 10th, 19.11. 



ENLARGED AND REARRANGED 
BY 

WILHELM PETTERSEN. 



PUBLISHED BY 

OLAF E. RAY 

In Honor of the Unveiling of the Rollo Statue at Fargo, N. D. 
July 12, 1912. 



CHICAGO, ILL. 



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GUS. G. MARTIN, 
Printer, 

2345 Milwaukee Ave., 
CHICAGO, ILL. 



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MOTTO: 

" Qui mare tenet, eum 
necesse est rerumpotiri." 

Cicero ad Atticum. 

Who holds dominion of the open sea, 
To universal power holds the key. 



GANGE ROLF. 

MILLENAIRE DE NORMANDIE 
911 — 1911 

ROLLON — HROLF 

Farouche enfant du Nord, il grave son Histoire 

D'un redoutable fer forge par la Victoire. 

II affronte les mers et leur noirs tourbillons 

Et sur le roc anglais plante ses pavilions. 

Banni du fjord natal, il cherche une Patrie 

Digne de sa valeur, il la trouve en Neustrie ; 

Et c'est la qu'accouplant ses heros aux tiers cceurs, 

II reve de creer un peuple de vainqueurs. 

Des Romains et des Francs il efface la trace, 

Du sol gaulois jaillit une nouvelle Race 

Ou la temerite s'unit a la raison. 

Le Chef barbare ouvrant l'ame a la foi profonde 

Devient legislateur: il sape, il cree, il fonde! 

Le cercle de son glaive elargit l'horizon ; 

De son camp de Rouen, il impose, il commande, 

Fait redouter aux Rois la puissance normande, 

La barque du Pirate accoste au Trone ... Eh bien, 

Voici ce qu'accompli sa formidable epee . . . 

Puis, heros de Legende autant que d'epopee, 

II s'efface . . . Est-il mort? L'Histoire n'en sait rien! 

ALBERT LAMBERT. 
17 Mars 1911. 



ROLLO - G ANGE-ROLF. 



(Translated by Wilhelm Pettersen.) 



Fierce son o' the North, he graved his history 
By valor's mighty .sword forged by Victory. 
In high-beaked ships o'er turbulent seas he went 
And on fair England's shore first pitched his tent. 
Exiled from home, om Neustria's shore he found 
A home full worthy of his great renown, 
And here he gathered hosts of heros brave 
Who fought to conquer or to seek a grave. 
Of Roman and of Franc he left no trace, 
But planted in the land a new-born race 
Whose courage blended well with reason's sway. 
This pirate-chief to faith oped wide his soul, 
And as a statesman played a founder's role. 
His sword made wide th' horizon of his day. 
Rouen he ruled as duke, the while kings feared 
When Rollo's battle-ry, "harou," they heard 
Rising from ships that anchored 'neath the throne. 
In lofty strains the Scalds his deeds proclaimed — • 
Him History one of her heros named — 
Founder of Normandy, Old Norway's mighty son! 



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ROLLO OF NORMANDY 11 



FOREWORD. 



Last year Normandy celebrated the thousandth anni" 
versary of its conquest and settlement by the Northmen, and 
this unique celebration was participated in, not only by French- 
men at home and abroad, but by Englishmen as well as by Nor- 
wegians, Danes, and Swedes. The National Organization of 
the Sons of Norway in the United States, having been asked to 
send a delegate to Rouen as their representative, chose Mr. Olaf 
B. Ray, who before the Congress held at Rouen from the sixth to 
the tenth of June, 1911, read an essay on "Some Phases of the 
Miaritime Life of France and England Directly Traceable to the 
Vikings. ' ' 

Mr. Ray was no sooner back from his visit to Normandy than 
he spoke to the author of this "Memorial Essay" about writ- 
ing something for our own people in America that would 1 enable 
them to recognize, if only superficially, the great part played 
in the world's historical drama by the men whose courage, 

--energy, wisdom and adaptability made Normandy, modern 
France, Sicily, the Crusades, modern England, and the discov- 
eries of a new continent possible. And what better occasion for 
bringing out just such a "Memorial Essay" could possibly 
present itself than the gathering in Fargo, North Dakota, in 
July of this year, of thousands of Norwegian-Americans and 
French=Americans to hear our united singing societies sing the 
songs of Old Norway and to see unveiled the statue of Rollo of 
Normandy, the very man who inaugurated a new era in the his- 

■ tory of Europe and of the World? Not until our descendants in 
the year 2000 A. D> shall be able to celebrate the thousandth 
anniversary of the discovery of America by Leif Ericsson will an 
occasion arise equal in importance to the unveiling of the Rollo 
statue at Fargo. 



J-2 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

If any one thinks this to be an exaggeration and an over- 
estimation of what the conquest of Normandy by the Northmen 
historically involves, let him listen to the introductory words of 
the committee that had charge of the celebrations at Rouen last 
year : 

"It is this year a thousand years since the Scandinavian 
pirates decided to build their homes in Neustria and selected to 
become Frenchmen. The state which had its birth in the treaty 
of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte marched rapidly forward to a brilliant 
destiny. Under the wise rule of its dukes it became a feudal 
power of the first order. One hundred and fifty years after its 
foundation, by a "coup de force" till then without a parallel in 
history, the duchy annexed to itself a kingdom, and the duke of 
Normandy became the king of England. 

At the beginning of the twelfth century the rising sun of 
Normandy spread its rays out over the whole world. It gave 
kings to the Two Sicilies, princes to Asia Minor, and the duke 
who ruled at Rouen soon extended his sway from the Pyrenees 
to the furthest of the Orkneys. When Normandy, after three 
centuries of independent life, laid the foundation for a united 
France, it still knew how to guard its individuality, its customs, 
its laws, and the eminent qualities that still distinguish the Nor- 
man race among all others 

The children of Normandy have, in all the various branches 
of human activity, contributed a large share to the enhancement 
of the glorious patrimony of the common French fatherland." 

The truth of the statement last made is brought visibly to 
our attention by the programme gotten up for the Congress. 

Under the general head of Norman literature the following 
subject matters were put up for consideration: 1. The first 
Norman Trouveres and the poetic history of Normandy. 2. The 
land of the Normans in poetry and prose from Oliver Basselin's 
"Vaux de Vire" to the novels of Maupassant. 3. The Norman 
theatre in the middle ages. 4. The influence of the genius of 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 13 

Normandy on French letters of the seventeenth century from 
Malherbe to Fontennel. 5. The literary movement in Normandy 
during the nineteenth century. 6'. Localities in France where 
are found names of Scandinavian origin or names that have 
Scandinavian prefixes or suffixes. It would probably have saved 
the writer of this "Memorial Essay" a great deal of valuable 
time and hard work if he could have had in his possession the 
paper read by M. Joret, a member of the Institute, on "Scandi- 
navian elements in the place-names and the folk-speech of Nor- 
mandy." 

Under "Norman Archaeology and the Fine Arts" the fol= 
lowing interesting subjects were proposed : 1. Naval construc- 
tion of the Normans — "Drakars, " barges, boats, caravels and 
ships of all kinds down to the present time. 2. Numismatics — 
Coinage in the time of the dukes, the kings of England, and the 
French sovereigns. 3. The strong fortresses on the banks of 
the river Epte. 4. Influence of Norman architecture on Eng- 
lish art. 5. Influence on Norman artists on Sicilian architecture 
— can a similar influence be traced in the cathedral of Milan? 
(And what about the cathedral of Trondhjem?) 6. Roman art 
in Normandy in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries — 
Architecture and sculpture. 7. The gothic art — Civil and relig- 
ious monuments, tombs etc. 8. The Renaissance — Castles, pal- 
aces, manors, churches. 9. Old paintings from the Roman or 
gothic period. 10. Norman architecture during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries — Castles, manors, palaces and public 
buildings. 11. Ceramics. 12. Works in colored glass. 13. 
Tapestry. 14. "Works in ivory. 15. Norman customs — Figures 
on monuments, manuscripts, paintings, sculptures etc. — Are there 
still localities, where traditional customs are found? 

Under the general head of history and geography of Nor- 
mandy the following subject-matters were proposed : 1. The coun- 
tries of Normandy. 2. Topography of the shores of the river 
Seine at the time of the Norman invasions. 3. Did the Northmen 
establish colonies in North America in the ninth and the tenth 
centuries? 4. Where was "Oscellus, " or where did the Northmen 



14 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 



have their winter quarters in the ninth century. 5. Rouen in t 
time of the Norman dukes. 6. The material and moral state of 
Normandy at the end of the ducal period (1204). 7. Economic and 
social consequences of the Hundred Years' war. 8. The states 
of Normandy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 9. The 
municipal organization of Rouen from its reconquest by Charles 
the seventh till the death of Henry the second (1449-155'9). 10. 
The renaissance of arts and letters in Rouen and in Normandy 
in the first half of the sixteenth century. 11. The causes of the 
Reformation in Rouen and Normandy. 12. Legislative and ad- 
ministrative proposals from Normandy in 1789. 13. Historians 
of Normandy. 14. Science and art of navigation of the Nor- 
mans — Biographies of Norman explorers and navigators till the 
present time. 15. The ancient noble families of the duchy. The 
companions of William the Conqueror. 16. The corporations of 
artists, mechanics and merchants (trade guilds of Normandy). 
17. The religious brotherhoods. 18. The great sea-ports of 
Normandy in the last century- 19. The regulation of rivers in 
Normandy. 20. The rural population of Normandy at the present 
time. 21. Land tenure of to-day in the different parts of Nor- 
mandy. 22. Higher education in Normandy under the old 
regime (Bourbon dynasty) and since the Revolution down to 
1870 — Secondary education — Primary education. 

Under the head of Norman jurisprudence the following in- 
teresting questions were proposed : 

1. Origin of Norman laws — what contribution have the 
Scandinavians made to the legal system of Normandy? 2. 
Norman institutions at the time of William the Conqueror. 3. 
Evolution of the criminal law, a) under the dukes, b) under the 
French kings. 4. The influence of the canonic law. 5. The 
influence of the jurisprudence of the French court on Norman 
jurisprudence. 6. The influence of Norman institutions on those 
of England and France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
7. How did the '"Exchequer" become a court of appeal and at 
what time ? 8. What changes in Norman jurisprudence did the 
reform of the "Customs of Normandy" bring about? 9. An 



the 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 15 

•examination of the marriage contract in Normandy. 10. "What 
part of the socalled "Grand Coutumier" of Normandy is still in 
force in the Anglo-Norman islands? Probably on account of the 
difficulty involved in examining the above questions, they still 
present almost virgin soil to some well-balanced investigator; 
but a careful and scientific examination into some of these mat- 
ters would no doubt yield interesting material for the solution of 
the question : Were the conquerors or settlers of Normandy Nor- 
wegians or Danes? 

Dr. Frith j of Nansen has indicated what might be found here 
hy calling attention to the fact that the division of a whale in 
Normandy took place according to the same general rules as 
were followed in Norway centuries back and are still followed 
on the west coast of Norway. Customs, laws, manners, industries, 
are, more than chronicles of densely ignorant monks — some of 
whom did not know the difference between the Scandinavian 
countries and the Black Sea region, — yes, and even more than 
language, likely to lead to a correct solution of this interesting,, 
important, but tangled question. 

But it may as well be definitely settled first as last that the 
question must be investigated in Normandy, where the descend- 
ants of the first settlers still remain. 

The fifth and last group deals with science and industry, and 
the eleven questions under this general head prove conclusively 
that Normandy has produced men who are among the foremost, 
not only in commerce and navigation, but in the great modern 
industries, and in all the sciences, both pure and applied. Thus 
Normandy has produced zoologists, botanists, geologists, and 
paleontologists ; it has given to France great anatomists, surgeons, 
and physicians; it has been the birthplace of famous mathema- 
ticians, astronomers, physicists, and chemists ; it numbers among 
its famous sons engineers, architects and inventors ; and all this 
is frankly admitted to be attributable to the fact that the blood 
of the vikings of the North still pulses strong in the veins of the 
Norman people both in the country and in the cities. 



Hi ROLLO OP NORMANDY 



The following essay, being the essay read in French by Mr. 
Kay at Rouen, enlarged and somewhat re-arranged, lays no claim 
to originality or to scientific exactness. It is mostly a collection 
of "flotsam and jetsam" from the great sources of information. 

To anyone who may wish to pursue further the study of any 
particular question touched upon in the essay, the following list of 
works among those consulted may prove of interest. 

Macpherson's Annals of Commerce. — Noel's Histoire du Com- 
merce du Monde. — Pardessus's Us et cotumes de la mer. Mas La- 
trie's Treaty of Peace and Commerce. — >Steintz's The Ship. — 
Lavisse's Historie de France. — Worsaa's Den danske Erobring af 
England og Normandiet. — Dondorff's Die Normannen. — Johnson's 
The Normans in Europe/ — Freeman's Norman Conquest. Sehack's 
Geschichte der Normannen in Sicilien. — Alexander Bugge : Vik- 
ingerne. — Janin: La Normandie. — Brunot's History of the French 
Language. — Suchier's Bibliotheca Normannica. — Fritzners Old- 
norks Ordbog. — Le Hericher's Topographic Philology of Nor- 
mandy. — Hatzfeldt=Darmesteter's French Dictionary. In conclu- 
sion I wish to thank the librarian at the Chicago Public Library 
and Mr. Sorensen of the Newberry Library for the invaluable as- 
sistance they have rendered. 



Chicago, 111., July 4, 1912. 



WILHELM PETTERSEN. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 17 



SOME PHASES OF THE 
MARITIME LIFE OF FRANCE AND 
ENGLAND, DIRECTLY TRACE- 
ABLE TO THE VIKINGS. 



r ROLLO OP NORMANDY a 19 

SHIPBUILDING AND THE ART 
OF NAVIGATION. 

Everybody admits that the Vikings of the North were in a 
high degree in possession of the qualities that go to make a great, 
sea-faring race. 

The Northmen, when in the eighth centnry they appear on 
the coast of England, Scotland, and Ireland as pirates and 
traders, are already in possession of all the art and crafts nec- 
essary to sail the sea. Some day we may even come to know so 
much about our Northern ancestors and their life about the 
eighth century A. D., that we shall see how ridiculous it is to call 
them savages, or even barbarians. 

A brisk trade was carried on with Finmarken, with the 
islands west of Norway, with Scotland and Ireland, even at that 
early period, when the historical appearance of the Normans was 
yet no larger than a man's hand on the European horizon. 

One of the best attested facts about these terrible Northmen 
is that they were expert ship builders. A distinguished citizen 
-of Rouen, M. Alfred Ravet, has brought this to our attention in 
a finely written brochure, entitled "La Marine des Vikings." 

In the United States, Prof. A. A. Veblen, has made a special 
study of this subject. His theory is that there have been two 
European ship-building centers, one in the Mediterranean, and 
another starting in the Baltic, but eventually finding a fixed and 
congenial home on the Southern and Western coasts of Norway. 
Remains of these ships in a fairly good state of preservation have- 
in recent years been unearthed in Norway. 

It may be suggested as probable — to do no more at present — 
that the beautiful French and English clippers as well as our 
own Norwegian ships and boats, especially the classic Nordlands* 



20 ROLLO OP NORMANDY 

boat, the true swan-boat, if ever there was one, are, consciously 
>or unconsciously, built after the old Viking vessel as their model. 

In Norway, three especially important "finis" of the re- 
mains of old vikingships have been made. In 1867 the whole bot= 
torn of such a vessel was dug out of a tumulus (gravhaug) in Tune 
in the vicinity of Sarpsborg. This was followed in 1880 by the 
finding of the famous Gokstad ship which was taken out entire 
from a tumulus in the neighborhood of Sandef jord, and for the 
first time it was now possible completely to reconstruct, by means 
of an actual specimen, a ship such as the Norwegian vikings used. 

Then came the discovery of the Oseberg ship in the early 
autum of 19'03. This ship is supposed to, date from about the 
beginning of the ninth century. 

From these and other "finds" made in different parts of 
Northern Europe, from the "Helleristinger" or rock-engravings 
especially found in Sweden, — from the description of ships in the 
ancient sagas, and from the words found in the ancient Norse 
language together with those found in Old French, and still 
remaining as a distinct sea-terminology in all the languages of 
Northern Europe, can now be traced the influence which the old 
vikings from the Scandinavion North exerted on the maritime 
life of the world. 

Like the figures of some ancient cameo or the bas-relief of 
some famous antique vase the old Norse sea-terms, still found 
in the French, English, and German as well as in the Scandi- 
navian languages, stand out with a distinctness that leaves no 
doubt as to where they have originated. 

The breath of the salt fjords of Norway, the strong "heave" 
of the North-sea waves, the gleam of Northern light and of the 
fierce and irresistible battle-axes and helmets iseem to mingle, to 
come and go, to rise and fall in the sea-terms of the old Norse sea- 
kings. 

Language is the best indicator of the condition of an art, 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 21 

a craft, or a science, as it registers the knowledge of it through 
the nomenclature of its details. 

And in this respect, the Old Norse language is not found 
wanting. 

(In the following words the accents and the two letters for 
the sound "th" are not indicated.) 

The sea is called adalhaf, glaer, hler, sjar, sjor and saer. 

The waves are described as adrykkr, afall, alda, bara, breki, 
bodi, brim, bylgia, kolga, and unn. 

The wind is called blaer, bylr, byrr, dus, gol, and hregg. 

A ship or boat is besides the general name of batr and of 
skip: beit, dreki, dromundr, eikja, farkostr, ferja, flaust, fley, 
knorr, nokkvi, reidi, skeid, skuta, snekki, etc. There are stjorn- 
bordi and bakbordi, a vedr and hie, kjollr, thopta, thilja, stafn, 
stjorn, bard, bogr, bord, bordstokkr, brandr, grima, lypting, 
fyrrerum, hrefni, hlyr, kinungr, roedi, rong, vida, viggyrdill, as 
the parts of the ship itself, a catalogue, while not exhaustive, yet 
practically so. 

Then come the "reidir",. the things that make up the full 
equipment of a ship, also called "greidar" (so to this day in Nor- 
wegian: "greier", and in old French "agres"), as follows: ak- 
keri, aktaumr, ar, bugrlina, vod or vad, hasegl, hals, hjalmvolr 
(in modern Norwegian "styrvoll"), hlummr, klo, lik, ra, sigla, 
simi, skaut, stag, taug. The Old Norse language had words 
designating to load and to unload ("ferma" and "affer- 
ma") ; to keep a vessel from going forward ("andoefa"), to go 
about (bauta"), to run up close to the wind ("bita"), in English 
"by-the-wind", to pull on a rope ("hala"), to set sail ("sigla"), 
to roll ("skeika"), and many others too numerous to mention, 
but enough to show that all a ship's parts, all necessary belong- 
ings, all "manoeuvres", all commands could be designated in 
words, of which a single one alone appears to be borrowed, if bor- 
rowed it is, and that single word is "akkeri", anchor, an old 
word found in almost all the Indo-iEuropean languages. 



22 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

Hence there is no doubt that they were proficient in ship- 
building and in the art of navigation. The science of navigation 
was yet to come with compass and sextant, chronometer and all 
the appurtenances of modern navigation due to the study of 
astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, etc. But they had the 
principal elements of the science, for they understood the various 
positions of the sun, the ebb and flood of the ocean, they knew 
about the flight of birds to help them find their way to shore, 
they knew about the current ("straumr"), and they could take 
soundings. 

This is not the place to discuss the question of the invention 
of the compass, to which invention Norway to-day lays no serious- 
claim. Nevertheless, it may not be out of the way to quote an 
English writer with respect to the nautical arts and science pos- 
sessed by the Scandinavians, particularly the Norwegians and 
Icelanders, at this time, to wit. : about the beginning of the tenth 
century. 

He says: "Navigators accustomed to depend on the almost 
infallible assistance of the compass and quadrant, of arithmetical 
and astronomical tables, will be astonished when they reflect on 
the intrepid spirit of those adventurous sons of the Northern 
ocean, who without any of these modern contrivances and aids 
dared to commit their barks for several days, perhaps often 
weeks, to a boundless expanse of ocean, and trust their lives to 
the chance of seeing the sun and the stars. 

Somewhere between 871 and 900 Ohther, a Norwegian, was 
sent out on an exploring expedition by the English king Alfred 
the Great, coasted along the country of the Fins, now called Lap- 
land, passed the North Cape, and penetrated into the great bay 
where Archangel now stands. 

The northern people at that time were accustomed to catch 
whales and seals. Whales of from 72 to 75 feet were so numerous 
on the coast of Norway, that Ohther with the help of five men 
could kill sixty of them in 1 two days. ' ' 



ROLLO OP NORMANDY 23 

And the same author, further on, says: "Although it may he 
too much to claim for the Norwegians — as has been done — the 
honor of having invented the compass, it is told by Torfaeus in 
his "History of Norway" that "In the year 1263 the compass, 
fitted into a box as now, though probably without a card, was in 
common use among the Norwegians, who had so just an idea of 
its great importance that they made it the device of an order of 
knighthood to be conferred on men of the highest rank." 



INFLUENCE 

ON 

SEA-TERMINOLOGY. 

Now, how about the influence of these proficient navigators 
upon the sea-terminology of the countries to which they came as 
marauders one thousand years ago, and in which they have re- 
mained to this day. 

That Normandy has contributed in large measure to the 
making of France there can be no doubt. "Si monumenta re- 
quiris, circumspice ", which means: If you need proof, look about 
you. At the same time there is no doubt that the words left by our 
Northern ancestors in the French language are comparatively 
few. 

Glancing at random through Eobert Keelham's Dictionary of 
the Old French or Norman language, we come upon words like 
"ain", a hook; "bateaux", boats; "bore", a village; "bord", on 
board; "brant", burnt; "brek" or "breche", a gap; "brug", 
bridge; "Druthin Dieu", the house of God; "escaud", old 
Norse "scadu", damage; "escrin", a coffer; "eskep", ship- 
ped; "fare", to go; "garth", a yard, backyard, still 
called, "gaard", in Norwegian; "grith", peace; "grith= 
stole", sanctuary; "guelle", throat; "in harneys", arrayed; 
■"haus", a house; "man", meant a Norman; "mire" the sea 



24 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 



(Norwegian sailors today call the sea "Blaamyren," "the blue 
mere"); "scutelar" or "cutelaire", sergeant of the scullery, 
officer of the king's household who was to take care of the dishes, 
(in Old Norse, "Skutilsvend") ; "seil", sail; "tanqe", think; 
"vey" (haut), highway; "windermonet", month of October or 
November, etc. 

"Ain", a sharp hook, is in 0. N. "ange". "Bateau", a boat, 
is in 0. N. "batr". "Bore", a village, borough, is in 0. N. 
"borg", found in Norwegian in Sarpsborg, and in many Swedish 
and Danish city-names. "Bord", on board, is clearly Old Norse, 
from "bord", the side of a ship. "Brant", burnt, is from 0. N. 
"brenna", now in Norwegian "braendt". "Brek" or "breche", 
a gap or breach, is from 0. N. "braka". "Brug", a bridge, is 
from 0. N. "brygga", a plank reaching from the ship's side to 
the land, and later a wharf built into the sea. Hences Bruges 
(Brugge) in Belgium. 

"Drut'hin Dieu", the house of God, may be a redundancy: 
"Drott-heim" and "Dieu", meaning "the Lord's house of God." 
"Escaud", damage, offense, is 0. N. "scadu". "Escrin", a 
coffer, is in Norwegian "skrin". "Fare", to go, is O. N. "fara". 
"Grith", peace, is a well-known Old Norse word; and "grith- 
stole", a sanctuary, then explains itself as the place where 
"grid" is asked or given. "Guelle", throat, may or may not be 
of 0. N. origin. The rest of the words cited above, all taken from 
the oldest Norman-French language as brought into England by 
the Norman conquest, are clearly Old Norse. 

And there are others like "bro", a field; "geast", 0. N. 
"gestr", a guest; "hagu", a house; "hastier", a minister, and 
to dispatch; "hous en hous", from door to door; "naz" and 
"neze", a nose; "sace", the pleading in a lawsuit; "siglaunte", 
a ship sailing; "strome", a stream; "thrave de blees", a thrave 
(handful) of sheaves, 0. N. "trefi", from "trifa", to grasp, and 
in Norw. dialect "triva, treiv, treve". 

Perhaps the strongest testimony to the comparative paucity 
of words derived from Old Norse now found in French, i& 



ROLLO OP NORMANDY 25 

presented by a collection of Franco-Norman texts called Biblio- 
theca Norniannica, by Herman Suchier ; for a rapid glance thru 
these valuable texts failed to bring to light more than the follow- 
ing words that can well be claimed as of Scandinavian origin, 
to wit: 

"Bort", Old Norse "bord", a ridge; "burc", 0. N. "borg", 
a city; "eschipre", 0. N. "skipare", a sailor, skipper; "sigler", 
0. N. "sigla", to sail; "escume", 0. N. "skum", foam, scum; 
"esturman", 0. N. "styrimadr", a pilot, steersman; "broigne", 
O. N. "brynja", a cuirass; "estrif", 0. N. "strid", strife; "not", 
0. N. "nod", a river, flood; "frizun", 0. N. "frjosa", to freeze; 
"hafne", 0. N. "hofn", a harbour; "estiere", 0. N. "styri", a 
rudder helm. \ 

In one of the texts contained in the above quoted "Biblio- 
theca Normannica", by Marie de France, the following occurs: 

"Puis qu'il l'ot lancie en la mer 
a l'estiere vait governer. 
Tant guverna la nef e tint, 
le hafne prist, a terre vint." 

Here are two Old Norse maritime terms, and it is a lady 
that writes. It is, may it be hoped, a pardonable offence to call 
attention to the fact, that in these seven volumes of early Middle 
Age Franco-Norman texts, many countries of Europe are men- 
tioned, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, Gascony, Ireland, North- 
umbria, Gotland, Normandy and Norway, but Denmark is not 
mentioned once, as far as could be found. 

The Hatzfeld-Darmesteter Dictionary, speaking about the 
French language, says : 

'The stablishment of the Normans, during the 10th century, 
in that part of Neustria which later took the name of Normandy, 
and their fusion with the native population naturally led to the 
introduction of some Scandinavian words into the speech of that 
part of France, whence they sometime have become naturalized 



26 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

in the French language of to-day. Then it goes on to give the 
following words as unquestionably of Scandinavian origin: 

"Babord", larboard, 0. N. "bakbordi", "Bateau", boat, 
"Bitte", 0. N. "biti", a log or cross-timber in a ship, still used in 
Norwegian as "bite". "Bitts", are vertical posts or timbers 
fastened to the deck of a ship and to which cables are made fast. 
"Tonne", in 0. N. "tunna", and the same in Low Latin, which 
makes the origin a bit doubtful; a cognate Norwegian form is 
"tina". "Berge", of which Brachet in his Etymological French 
Dictionary says that it is of unknown origin, is almost certainly 
the Norwegian word "berg" from O. N. "bjarg". "Bouline", 
"bowline", is the 0. N. "bugrlina". "Etai", a stay, is the 0. N. 
"stag". "Etambot" is the Norw. "stavnsbord". "Etrave", 
is the 0. N. "stafr", in Norw. "stavn" or "staevn", 
the stem or prow of a vessel. "Ouaiehe" or "ouage" is 0. N. 
"vaagr", modern "vaag", a small bay or inlet. "Tillac", in 0. 
N. "thilja", and "tolet", in 0. N. "thollr", are still used as 
"tilje" and "tolle" in modern Norwegian. "Touer", to tow, is 
still called "toga" in Norw. dialect. "Tribord", starboard, is 0. 
N. "stjornbordi" or "styribordi" and modern Norw. "styr- 
bord". "Ecoute", a sheet, in 0. N. "skaut", "Episser", to splice 
(a rope), seems derived from the same root as the word "spissa" 
which to=day is used in the same sense in Sondmore, Whence Hollo 
came, and in the North of Norway. "Grier", to put in order, to 
rig up, to prepare a ship for the voyage, is 0. N. "greidi", 
modern Norw. "at greie". "Quille", a keel, is in 0. N. "kjollr". 
"A clin", clinched or riveted, (in Norwegian a boat is said to be 
"klinkebygget" when the boards or planks of the sides are so 
placed, that the one above overlays a trifle the one immediately 
below) is perhaps an "onomatope". "Haler", to pull, "hisser", 
to hoist, and "noeud", a knot, are the Norwegian words "hale", 
"heise", and "knude". "Scute", a ship, is of course the 0. N. 
"skuta" and modern Norw. "skude". 

Prof. Alexander Bugge, in his work "Vikingerne", The Vik- 
ings, tells us that around the English coast the names of islands, 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY V 1 27 

Jiolms, bays and inlets (wicks) testify to the settlements made by 
our countrymen in these western parts. 

In the North of England, besides the common Anglo=Saxon 
endings: "ton", "ham", "burg" or "borough", "ford" ? 
"forth" or worth, we come upon such distinctively Norse end- 
ings as "by", "thorpe", "toft", "beck", "tarn", "holm", 
"dale", "fell", "hough" or "hou", "force" or "foss", "garth", 
"thwaite", and others. 

This, taking also into consideration the large number of 
Norse Avords found in English shows how uniformly and perma- 
nently the Vikings influenced the language of these countries. 

Finally, we may in this place add what Mr. Lindsay says in 
his "History of Merchant Shipping": The Scandinavian lan- 
guage survived the independence of the Northern pirates, and 
centuries after these had ceased to dominate the seas, a Norse 
dialect was spoken. 

Even to this day remnants of this original language remain 
in the Orkneys and Shetland Islands, and is often used among the 
seafaring population, especially for the ordinary nautical expres- 
sions employed on board of their ships. 

But, after all, it is not in the influence exercised on lan- 
guages,whether in France or England, that the Normans have 
"distinguished themselves most. Their greatest claim to the grati- 
tude of posterity lies in this, that by their example others were 
stirred into active participation in the building and defense of 
Europe, and that at a time when such folk were sorely needed. 

The Normans became the bulwark against the terrible 
Saracens and in a short time wrested the commercial empire of 
the Mediterranean away from them. By taking such a prominent 
part in the Crusades as they did, they were the vanguard to roll 
back the tide of Saracenic invasion, and by founding the Nea- 
politan Kingdom, and by making Amalfi a sea-port of the first 
order, they created the possibility of a future Italy. By their 
enterprise at home, they laid the foundation of the navy of 
France. Names like Duquesne, (of whom the famous Dutch 



28 



ROLLO OP NORMANDY 



admiral said, "I fear no one in the whole world except the sailor 
M. Duquesne), and Tourville (Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, comte 
de), born in the Castle of 'Tourville in Normandy, and Dumon 
«d' Urville, who through his mother was related to the old Nor- 
man nobility, are among the proudest in the annals of France. 
But, to an American, there is a particular pleasure in knowing 
that the honor and glory of France and of Normandy was up- 
held by such names as Jacques Cartier, born at St. Malo, Daniel 
and Jean Ribaut, both born in Dieppe, the famous missionary, 
Brebeuf, born in Bayeux, and last but not least by the greatest 
explorer of the western world, the man of courage, of sagacity, 
of patience, and perseverance, Robert Cavalier de La Salle, born 
in the city of Rouen;, the cradle of great men. Chicago 
has honored his memory by naming one of its principal 
streets after him, and the great State of Illinois one of 
its counties. If space permitted, it would be both an honor and a 
pleasure to recall to our minds the important influence wielded 
in the New World, in Canada as well as in the United States, by 
emigrants of Norman extraction. One author on this subject 
goes so far as to say that it is the character and qualities of Nor- 
man or near-Norman settlers that have determined the destiny of 
that French element in our western world which has always 
exerted its efforts for the propagation and preservation of "lib- 
erty, equality, and fraternity." 




ROLLO OF NORMANDY 29 

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE 
CONQUEST OF NORMANDY. 



Since the tenth century the historical name of Normandy ap- 
plies to a sea-coast region in the extreme Northwest part of 
France, extending from the valley of the Bresle to the bay of Mt. 
St. Michael, or roughly speaking, from Dieppe to St. Malo. 

It falls into two natural divisions. The eastern part consists of 
plains and plateaus, while the western part is more rough and 
mountainous. 

The ancient names of Upper and Lower Normandy corre- 
spond in a way to these natural divisions, to which the sea gives 
a sort of unity. 

But the real unity of Normandy is altogether of the historical 
order? When the invasions of the Northmen began, two colonies 
were formed, and history speaks of the Northmen along the Loire 
and the Northmen along the iSeine. 

Rollo and his successors made one state out of the two settle- 
ments, and Normandy owes its unity to the Normian race. 

M. Alfred Ravet, in his "La Marine des Vikings", gives a 
table showing where, when, and in what numbers, the invasions 
of the vikings of the North took place. 

The first one recorded gives a decidedly Norwegian tone to 
these expeditions. Under date of 787 A. D. the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle, to which the English historian Freeman appeals as 
against the monkish chroniclers of Normandy, especially Dudo, 
and the northern sagas, says that "in the days of king Beorthric 
came three ships Math Northmen out of Harethaland. " After 
that, expeditions are recorded under the years '810, 812, 815, 820, 
833, 837, 839, 940, 844, 845, 847, 848, 849; 861; 852; 859; 861; 865; 
and 870. 



30 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

As the next expedition takes place in 879 and has a direct 
bearing upon the history of Normandy it is well to stop here and 
correct a current misconception with respect to the exodus from, 
the Scandinaxian countries. 

While it is perfectly true that the battle of Bafrsf jord in 872,. 
uniting Norway under Harald Haarfager (Fairhair), made it un- 
comfortable for the independent and proud sea-kings of the west- 
ern fjords to remain in Norway, and hence caused many of them, 
to leave the country, the fact that prior to 872 no less than twenty 
or more expedtions (under some years two expeditions are- 
recorded) have taken place, goes to prove that there was unrest, 
stir, activity, and maritime expeditions enough and to spare be- 
fore 872. 

Of the above mentioned expeditions those in 820, 845, and 861. 
were directed against the banks of the river Seine, and the last 
one resulted in the occupation of the island called "Oscellus",. 
where the Northmen built a "castellum" or fortified camp. 

In the intervening years during this same period the Irish sea 
swarmed with viking ships. "What began modestly enough with 
three ships in 787, grew to 120 ships, visiting county of Cork, in 
812. iSix score ships visited Ireland in 837, sixty on the "Boinn"' 
and sixty on the "Liffe" river; 120 ships were on the Seine int 
847 ; 140 ships in 849 again visited Iceland. 

In the year 851 A. D., 350 ships, very likely Danes and Nor- 
wegians together, sailed up the Thames and took Canterbury and? 
London by storm ; 160 ships in 862 invaded Scotland, while in the- 
some year the Dub-gaill, or black foreigners (Danes) as distin- 
guished from the Finn-gaill or fair foreigners (Norwegians), ar- 
rived. Two hundred ships were on the Seine in 861. 

And finally ,in 870, at the end of the period in question, 200' 
ships came "again" to Dublin from Scotland under Awlaiw 
(Auleif=01af ) ) and Ivar, two Norwegian sea-kings, bringing much, 
booty. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 31 

Two things interest us in this connection. One is that the two 
last named Norwegian sea-kings from Dublin were present at the 
battle of Hafrsfjord. 

The other is that we must look to the period before 872 for 
the real causes of the vast outpouring of Scandinavian pirates. 
Let us recall a bit of history ! 

After their complete settlement in Britain and their conver- 
sion to the Christian religon, the Saxons, who before that had been 
the undisputed masters of the Northern seas and the dread of the" 
maritime provinces of the western Roman empire, seem to have 
entirely changed their national character. 

What had happened to the Briton under the influence of 
Eoman civilization and Christianity, now happened to their con- 
querors : The use of arms was generally abandoned, all thoughts 
of "naval affairs were given up, and their ships, the chief instru- 
ments of their conquests, as no longer of any use, were allowed! 
to. rot upon the beach. Vast numbers of people of all ranks, kings 
and queens not excepted, persuaded that a life of retirement from 
secular care and business was the most pleasing to God, renounced 
the world and shut themselves up in monasteries. The miseries 
which the nations had suffered from their ancestors were now as 
fully inflicted upon them by the ferocious roving warriors de- 
scended from their own remote ancestors, who under the names 
of Danes, Norwegians, Northmen, Ostmen and Normans succeeded 
to the naval dominion of the Northern ocean and eventually of 
the whole western world. 

Conditions in England as well as in France were thus al- 
together too favorable for just what took place in the ninth and 
tenth centuries. "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the 
eagles be gathered together." 

Nor was Ireland in a position to withstand the terrible on- 
slaught of the Northmen. Inner feuds and a highly developed 
Christian culture acted like a disarmament and opened the way 
for the terrible vikings of the sea. 



32 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

The first real incursion took place in 79'5, when the North- 
men plundered and burned the church of Rechrann, now Lambey, 
an island north of Dublin Bay. When this event occurred, the 
power of the over-king had become a shadow, and the kingdom 
had split up into more or less independent principalities, almost 
constantly at war with eachother. 

After having gained a foothold in the island, the Northmen 
fortified the city of Dublin, while new colonies took possession of 
almost all the maritime parts of the island. 

Waterford, Limerick and other cities were built and fortified, 
and finally, Olaf, the moist powerful of the Norwegian-Irish kings, 
assuming the title of "King of Ireland", compelled the Irish to 
pay him tribute. Henceforth the native Irish were almost shut up 
in the inner part of the country, while the Norman-Irish, as we 
may mow call them (being a mixture of 'Norwegians, Danes, Jutes 
and renegade Irish) were the chief, or rather the only, commercial 
people in Ireland, and continued for several centuries to carry on 
trade with their mother countries and other places on the west 
coasts of Europe from their Irish settlements. .... 

This last statement is of vast historical importance in view 
of the fact that, about 890 the islands on the west side of Scot= 
land, which had been often visited by the Norwegians in their 
voyages to Ireland, were now in a great measure peopled by them. 

Thus were the Norwegians added to the nations inhabiting 
the British islands. .... 



ROLLO OP NORMANDY 33" 

WHERE THE VIKINGS CAME 
FROM. 

We have now followed the invasion's and depradations, the 
conquests and colonisations of the Scandinavian vikings down to 
A. D. 890. 

It may not be amiss here to recapitulate what has been said 
in a little different way, in order to bring more clearly before us 
the real significance of the establishment of this "Northern sea- 
empire" in the ninth century. 

As a general rule, England was the prey of the Danes, while 
Scotland with the islands, as far north as Iceland and as far south 
as Anglesey and Ireland, fell to the Norwegians, and Russia to the 
Swedes. 

Yet it is probable that these devastating bands of sea-rovers 
were often composed indiscriminately of the several nationalities. 
"With respect to Gaul and Germany there is no doubt that Danes 
and Norwegians shared about equally in the spoils. 

The Norwegians appeared in the islands west of Scotland as 
early as the latter part of the eighth century, and their expedi- 
tions in these parts increased in size and frequency as they 
changed in character in the reign of Harald Haarfager. 

Many vikings and mighty Norwegian chiefs were expelled by 
Harald; and when they retaliated by periodically infesting the 
coasts of Norway, king (Harald tried to emulate the Roman consul 
Pompey who made an end for a time of piracy in the Mediter- 
ranean sea. The king devoted a whole summer to conquering the 
vikings and extirpating the brood of pirates. 

Having reduced the islands, king Harald made Ragnvald 
Morejarl, father of Gange-Rolf or Rollo of Normandy, ruler of the 
islands, and he first sent his brother Sigurd there, and later his 
son Einar (Torv-Einar) to the islands. Prom about 875 A. D. we 
may date the final establishment of the Orkney -Jarls who hence- 
forth owe a nominal allegiance to the king of Norway. 



34 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 



NORMANNA V-ffiLDE 

or 

The Sea-Empire of the Normans, 

at the time when their power was at its height, that is when 
its sway extended over Norway, part of Sweden, the Faeroe 




islands, the Scottish islands, part of Ireland, Iceland, part of 
Greenland, Normandy, part of western France outside of Nor- 
mandy, and Sicily, mnst have covered at least 300,000 sqnare 
miles of territory, with a population of not far from five million. 
It was, in a sense, a world-power. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 35 



NORWAY'S SEA-EMPIRE. 



By the end of the 9th century, then, a sort of Norwegian 
naval empire had arisen, consisting of the Hebrides, parts of the 
western coasts of Scotland, especially the modern Argyllshire, the 
isles of Man and Anglesey and the eastern shores of Ireland. This 
empire was under a line of sovereigns who called themselves the 
Hy=Ivar, or grandsons of Ivar, and resided, now in Man, now in 
Dublin. 

It is no doubt largely due to the infusion of Norwegian- 
Danish blood into the Scotch and the Irish, that the purest Eng- 
lish is said to be spoken in the Irish city of Dublin and in the 
Scotch town of Inverness. 

Under the government of these Norwegian princes the islands 
nourished. They were crowded with people; the arts were cul- 
tivated, and manufactures were carried to a degree of perfection 
which was then thought excellence. This comparatively advanced 
state of society in these remote islands may be ascribed partly to 
the influence and instructions of the Irish clergy, who possessed 
as much learning as was in those ages to be found in any part of 
Europe, except Constantinople and Rome ; and partly to the ar- 
rival of great numbers of the provincial Britons flying to them as 
an asylum when their country was ravaged by the Saxons, and 
carrying with them the remains of the science, manufactures, and 
wealth introduced among them by their Roman masters. 

Neither were the Norwegians themselves in those ages desti- 
tute of a considerable portion of learning and of skill in the use- 
ful arts, in navigation, fisheries, and manufactures ; nor were they 
in any respect such barbarians as those who know them only by 
the declarations of the early English writers may be apt to sup- 
pose them. , 

AH this has a direct bearing upon the occupation of Nor- 
mandy by Rollo (Gange-Rolf) and his men . To a monk in a 



36 ROLLO OP NORMANDY 

Franco-Roman monastery, who had no hair on his head, no beard 
on his face, and only a crucifix in his hands, these sons of the North 
must naturally have looked fierce enough. But many a Nor- 
wegian, Norman, or English sea-captain of to-day, one thousand 
years after the Nerwegain vikings under Eollo appeared on the 
Seine to stay, looks as fierce as did they, and possesses, if he be 
a genuine sailor, just about the same characteristics, haughty in- 
dependence, brusque manners, a commanding presence that a king 
might envy him, the same disdain for whining, and hatred of pomp 
and sham. 

But these men did what no monastic chronicler had any un- 
derstanding of. They came sailing down the Irish channel from 
the Norwegian settlements on the islands off the west coast of 
Scotland, and one of them at least, the leader of this workUfamous. 
expedition, had an imperial brain. 

His name was Hrolf, or Gange-Rolf. Rollon or Rou he is 
called in French. The English call him Rollo. 

He appeared on the river Seine for the first time in 876, and 
after having demonstrated by repeated attacks which resulted in 
actual conquest that he did not intend to leave, he entered into a 
treaty of peace with the French king Charles the Simple at Saint- 
Clair-sur-Epte in 911, received the king's daughter G-isela in mar- 
riage, and Normandy as a fief to be ruled by him as duke. 

This is the turning-point in the history of France, as the 
conquest of England by his descendant William the Conqueror is 
a turning-point in the history of England. 

What would France and England have been without the Nor- 
mans? 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 37 



ROUEN 

AND 

NORMANDY. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY! 39- 



ROUEN. 



Diex Aie aux ducs-roys ! 
Rholf, Vuillaume, et nos Droits 
Normands, vos Lois ! 
Fils du Sang genereux 
des Viking glorieux 
donnons la Paix a tout pais, 
Normands unis ! 

As Rollo was the hero of the Franco-Norman millennial 
celebration, so was Rouen the theatre where this splendid affair 
was staged. And rightly so. For all throughout the history of 
Normandy this beautiful and thrifty city of Rollo has been the 
center around which many important events of the past thousand 
years have ranged themselves ; and it holds to-day, with its mag- 
nificent cathedrals, its beautiful public buildings, its rich collec- 
tion of monuments of Normandy's great sons, and its present 
well-to-do and energetic population, a wealth of memories of the 
past that far surpasses anything possessed by any other city in 
Normandy. To be sure, Normandy is rich in cities and other 
historical places each of which harbors within it memories dear 
to the heart of the true Norman. There is Dieppe, Fecamp, 
Evreux, Lisieux, Caen, Falaise, and above all Bayeux. And 
many others. But no other city of Normandy holds within its 
environs so much that is characteristically Norman. It is doubt- 
ful whether any other city in the world does. 



40 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

It was here, in 876, on the XV Calends of December accord- 
ing to the old annals, on the 16th of September according to a 
corrected chronology, that E-ollo with his men first appeared. 
"Hoc anno," thns reads the chronicle, "Rollo cum suis Norman- 
niam penetravit," which means: In that year (876), Rollo and his 
men penetrated into Normandy. Says the English historian E. A. 
Freeman : ' ' One alone among the Scandinavian settlements in 
Gaul was destined to play a real part in history. This was the 
settlement of Rolf or Rollo at Rouen. 

"While the others soon lost any distinctive character, the 
Rouen settlement lasted, it grew, it became a power in Europe, 
and in Gaul it became even a determining power. . . . The lasting 
character of this work at once proves that the founder of the 
Rouen colony was a great man. . . . 

We have no really contemporary narrative of his actions . . . 
He is described as having been engaged in the calling of a viking 
both in Gaul and in Britain for nearly forty years before his 
final occupation of Rouen. He is charged with an expedition to 
Rouen in 876, but it is not till we have got some way into the 
reign of Charles the Simple, not till we have passed several years} 
of the tenth century, that Rolf begins clearly to stand out as a 
personal historic reality. He now appears in possession of Rouen, 
By the peace of Clair-on-Epte in 911, a definite district was ceded 
to Rollo, for which he became the king's vassal, he was admitted 
to baptism and received the king's natural daughter in marriage. 

Rouen was the heart of the new state, which took in lands 
on both sides of the Seine." 

And so the history of Normandy takes its beginning. A new 
state is born, a new political power is brought into existence, and 
with it many new and determining influences are put to work. 

It is not the intention to write, even in outline, the history 
of Normandy. Suffice it to say that during its period of inde- 
pendence, that is, from the treaty of peace of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte 
in 911 to its annexation by king: Philip II., Augustus, one of the 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 41 

ablest of the kings of France, in 1204, Normandy presented the 
only territorial unity in France. A sort of "France in the mak- 
ing'' was created from La Manche (the English channel) to the 
Pyrenees. After the Norman France with Rouen as its capital 
came "la France francaise" with Paris as its capital. And more 
than that. For after the dissolution of the empire of Charle- 
magne, the Norman kingdom was the first European state con- 
stitutionally governed, and well governed. The Capetian kings 
in their work of unification merely walked in the footsteps of 
Grange=Rolf and William the Conqueror. 

Normandy was the cradle of the feudal state with vassalage, 
chivalry, and all that feudalism meant for France and Europe, 
down to the French Revolution, when political feudalism perished 
forever. From Normandy came the leaders of the Crusades. Here 
gothic architecture grew to perfection. Language, literature, and 
art flourished in Normandy as nowhere else at the time, and 
influenced and stimulated if they did not create, language, litera- 
ture and art in France and England, Italy, Spain, and the Scandi- 
navian countries. As Normandy was a France "en miniature" 
before there was any united France, so the Norman dialect wag 
the first really French language. Among the many great Norman 
poets, or trouveres, as they were called, two stand out most 
prominently, namely Turold, the author of the famous Chanson 
de Roland, and Robert Wace, whose roman de Rou recounts the 
exploits of the Norman dukes to the time of Henry I. 

The spirit that breathes in a verse of the roman de Rou is the 
spirit of revolt among the peasants against the feudal system, al- 
ready beginning to gall the freedom-loving descendants of the 
men that, when asked by Count Raynold who their leader was, 
answered proudly: "No one, for we are all equal in power." 

This Norman verse, about to be quoted, is a fore-runner of 
the Marseillaise, and runs as follows : 

"Nous sommes hommes comme ils sont ; 
Tels membres avons comme ils ont. 
Bien avons contre un chevalier 
Trente ou quarante paysans. " 



42 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

"We are men as well as they, 
And as many for the fray. 
Gainst each knight we cry "harou", 
Thirty or forty peasants true. 

"What the poet here puts into the month of the Norman 
peasant refers to an incipient rnral insurrection in the time of 
Richard II., the fourth duke of Normandy. The rustic population 
endeavored to limit the seignorial rights and to make new laws 
for the exploitation of the forests and streams, in a word, they 
started a movement for "the conservation of the natural re- 
sources" of Normandy, and they attempted to form a sort of 
parliament of rustic deputies. "But," says the narrator, William 
of Jumieges, the duke seized the leaders, cut off their hands and. 
feet, and then sent them home in that condition." 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 43 



THE NORMANS AS 
BUILDERS. 

Building is a pleasant pastime of great rulers, and the Nor- 
mans were great builders. As the medieval spirit of devotion 
found its highest expression in the massive and at the same time 
artistic church edifices that fill the cities of Europe, so this archi- 
tectonic spirituality comes nowhere nearer making a cathedral "a 
prayer in stone" than in Normandy. There may be less of mysti- 
cim in the Norman cathedrals than in some of the Italian cath- 
edrals, for the Normans were intensely practical people; but the 
gothic architecture of Normandy, of which the city of Rouen is 
considered the real home, is characterized by the elevated spirit- 
uality, that seriousness, that anxiety to attain perfection, and that 
durability whieh characterizes all really great architecture. 

And foremost among these great cathedrals stands "La 
Cathedrale ", the fifth of a series of similar structures erected here 
since the introduction of Christianity into Normandy. If it does 
not present complete unity of style, it charms the beholder by its 
infinite variety and by its picturesque and grandiose aspect. 

Transplanted into England and thence into Norway, this 
beautiful church-architecture, with its tall, slender spires, its ele- 
gant columns, and its high vaulted arches has in the Scandinavian 
North found its most perfect and typical representative in the 
Cathedral of Trondhjem. 




LA CATHEDRALE. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 45 

Before leaving Rouen it is perhaps not out of place to quote 
what the famous French writer M. Michelet says of the beautiful 
sscenery along the Seine river, as it winds its way westward to 
the English Channel, since it was very likely in great measure the 
lovely scenery that laid deep in the breast of the Normans that 
admiration of their home-land which their descendants still retain, 
And here is what M. Michelet says : 

"La Seine — il faut la voir entre Point de l'Arche et Rouen, 
comme elle s' egare dans ses iles innombrables (encadrees au 
soleil couchant dans des flots d' or, tandis que, tout du long, les 
pommiers mirent leurs fruits jaunes et rouges sous des masses 
blanchatres : Je ne puis comparer a ce spectacle que celui du lac 
de Geneve. Le lac ,a de plus, il est vrai, les vignes de Vaud, 
Meillerie et les Alpes. Mais le lac ne marche point; c'est 1' im-? 
mobilite ou du moins 1' agitation sans progres visible. La Seine 
marche, et porte la pensee de la France, de Paris, vers la Nor* 
mandie, vers l'Oeean, l'Angleterre, la lointaine l'Amerique." 

"Which means: "One must see the Seine river between the 
Arch-bridge and Rouen, as it winds its way among innumerable 
islands, around which the setting sun has laid a frame of golden 
waves. All along the course the apple-trees give promise of their 
.yellow and red fruit in the mass of white flowers. I cannot com- 
pare this ispectacle to any thing else than that of Lake Geneva. 

The lake has more, it is true. It has the vineyards of Vaud, 
Meillerie and the Alps ; but the lake is stationary, it is immobile, 
or at least has only agitation without visible progress. The Seine 
goes onward, and it carries with it the thought of France and of 
Paris to Normandy, to the Ocean, to England, to far-away 
America." 




BON SECOURS. 
The beautiful monument to Jean of Arc, 
the Maid of Orleans. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY AT 



COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 

The influence of the viking-settler in Normandy on com- 
merce and navigation covers so much ground and has been so far- 
reaching that adequately to follow it in its course would not only 
require volumes, but would carry us into all the highways and 
byways known to the daring navigator and the merchant desirous 
of gain. 

As the greatest Norwegian poet, Bjornstjerne Bjornson, has. 
said: 

"Where vessel could be sent, 
He first of all men went." 

And it is almost literally true. Did not the Norwegian 
Othere first of all men, as far as known., round the North Cape? 
And did not the Norwegians first of all white men, as far as now 
known, discover America? And did not the mariners from Dieppe 
and Rouen earlier than the Portuguese, as early in fact as 1364, 
begin explorations along the west coast of Africa, discovering the 
Canaray Islands, Cape Verde, the coast of Guinea, and founding 
mercantile depots there, Petit-Dieppe, Petit-Paris, Mine d' Or? 

And it is even probable that Captain Jean Cousin of Hon- 
fleur, who in 1488 occupied Senegal, which ever since has be- 
longed to France, touched at some point of Brazil during his 
adventurous voyages. Jacques Cartier fromi St. Malo, Cham- 
plain from Dieppe, la Salle from Rouen discovered, explored, 
colonised the Northern part of the American continent from the 
mouth of the St. Dawrence river to the mouth of the Mississippi. 

Nansen crossing the Greenland glaciers and "farthest 
North" in "Fram", Capt. Roald Amundsen discovering the 
Northwest passage in the "Gjoa" and the South Pole in the 
"Fram", does it not prove that the "viking spirit" is as much 
alive to-day as it ever was? 



48 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

In the charter of liberty issued to the Rouennaises by Henry 
Plantagenet about 1150 there is the following sentence : 

"Nulla navis de tota Normannia debet eschippare ad Hiber- 
niani nisi de Rothomago ; excepta una sola, cui licet eschippare 
de Caesarisburgo, semel in anno." This charter throws some in- 
teresting light on trade-conditions in the twelfth century, just 
when the Norman power on land and on sea was at its height. 

"No ship," says the decree,- "from all Normandy shall sail 
for Ireland unless it sail from Rouen, except one which may sail 
from Cherbourg once a year." 

So it seems that the Rouennaise merchants had by this time 
monopolized the trade with Ireland. 

Between Rouen and Norway intercourse of trade seems to 
have been particularly lively. The ships from Norway brought 
to Rouen their cargos of timber, furs, salt fish, falcons, the latter 
very much sought after by the proud nobles of Normandy for 
use in hunting. 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 49 

NORMAN INFLUENCE 

ON 
ENGLISH COMMERCE. 

But we must hurry on; for have we not one of the noblest 
achievements of the Norman race still to speak of? 

W- iS. Lindsay, in his "History of Merchant Shipping", says 
that, "It is, of course, an acknowledged fact that the Norman in- 
vasion under William the Conqueror and his accesion to the 
throne of England, constitutes a new era in the commercial and 
maritime, as well as in the political and general history of Britain. 

On the commerce of /England the Norman Conquest had a 
remarkably stimulating effect. The same ships that to the num- 
ber of three thousand bad carried the Norman Conqueror and 
his army across the Channel were made into merchant-vessels, 
and the English flag could now be seen in the ports of the Medi- 
terranean, the North Sea, the Baltic, and the Atlantic sea-bord. 
It is easy to see how the Norman conquest made England the 
^greatest maritime power for centuries to come, due almost en- 
tirely to the infusion of Norman blood into the English people. 

And, oddly enough, one of the first countries to enter into 
treaty relations with England, then beginning to build up her 
sea=empire, was Norway, between which latter country and Eng- 
land a treaty of commerce, dated 1217, was made, allowing to 
merchants and subjects of both countries full liberty of personal 
intercourse, thus foreshadowing the coming in of a great era of 
international good-will and reciprocity — still to come. 

And if we examine the contemporaneous history of Norman 
maritime policy in the Mediterranean we shall find a similar large 
allowance made to the Saracens in Sicilv. 



50 ROLLO OP NORMANDY 

But in order to throw into the strongest relief the almost 
absolute sea-power of the Norman race, whether found in 
France, in the countries of the Mediterranean, in England, or in 
the home-lands of the North, it is only necessary to quote the 
following interesting statement from M. L. De Mas Latrie's 
,' Treaty of Peace and 'Commerce" (Paris 186'6) : 

"History has preserved the record of attempts made by the 
Norwegian king Haakon V to establish on a treaty-basis reg* 
ular communications with the kingdom of Tunis, during the reign 
of El-Mostaneer. Haakon, one of the great kings of Norway, 
shortly after having concluded a treaty of commerce with Al- 
phonse, king of Castile, and given the hand of his daughter 
Christine to the king's brother Don Philip, put himself in com- 
munication with El-Mostancer. 

"His" major domo "Lodinn, who had seen the envoys of 
the Tunesian king at the marriage-feast of Christine and very 
likely prepared the way for the negotiations, was put in charge 
of the mission to Tunis. 

Accompanied by Sira Haakon Eysill, Lodinn, towards the 
end of the year 1262, betook himself to the court of El-Mostaneer, 
to whom he brought falcons, furs, and other rare materials from 
the Northern countries. 

He was well received, stayed there several months, and re= 
turned to Norway, bringing with him presents and ambassadors 
from the sultan." 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 51 



HERALDRY. 

The old arms of Normandy were : Gules, two lions passant- 
gardant d'or. 

The arms of England are a composition of those of the 
duchies and Guienne. 

The Norman kings from William the Conqueror to Henry II., 
are said to have borne the coat of arms afterwards known as that 
of the duchy of Normandy. No armorial bearings, however, ap- 
pear upon any of their seals until the reign of the Plantagenet 
kings. The earliest who used them was Richard I., upon whose 
second great seal of 1198 the mounted efQ-gy of the monarch bears 
a shield charged with three lions passant-gardant of England. 
The Norman shields, as they are represented in the Bayeux tap- 
estry, in early carvings, and in seals, were long and narrow, 
strongly curved in a horizontal direction, partially encircling the 
body, and in many instances, had in the center a projecting boss 
or umbo. They were rounded at the top, or the top was straight 
with rounded corners. Being pointed at the base they were cap- 
able of being thrust into the ground, so as to be easily held in 
position by men fighting on foot, to whom they formed a very 
efficient defence, being about four feet high, in combination with 
the hedge of lances that accompanied them. Their width was 
two feet or perhaps a little more. 

Among the forms that are characteristically heraldic the Lion, 
the symbol of courage, power, and magnanimity, is most promi- 
nent and typical. 

Norway's coat of arms is: Gules, a lion rampant crowned, or 
holding the Scandinavian broad-axe argent. 

It may be noted that France, England, Norway and the Unit- 
ed States, the countries with strongly connected Norman popula- 
tions, are the only countries that have for their national colors, 
red,, white, and blue. 



52 



ROLLO OF NORMANDT 




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ROLLO OF NORMANDY 53 



CONCLUSION. 



It would seem, then, that based on what history tells of this 
exceedingly gifted race, which for want of a better name and in- 
cluding as it does all the Scandinavian peoples, Norman=French, 
Norman-English and Canadians, we may call the Normannic, we 
are justified in drawing the following conclusions: 

1. The Northmen, and the Normans after them, have been 
the world's most skilled and daring sailors. 

2. As shipbuilders they have never been surpassed whether 
in ancient or modern times. 

3. They invented a naval nomenclature that has persisted 
in the languages of all the maritime peoples of the North of 
Europe. The mixture of terms derived from nearly all languages, 
found in a sailor's vocabulary of to-day, has created a Babel of 
sea-terms difficult to analyse; but in this mixture, like silver or 
gold threads in some woven fabric the Old Norse words shine 
with a lustre that one thousand years of maritime life have only 
served to make brighter. 

4. Although starting as pirates, they soon turned their 
attention to more peaceful pursuits, until they all but monopo- 
lized the ocean-trade of the world. 

5. By their conquests and settlements in Iceland, France, 
Italy, and England they laid the foundation of the greatest sea- 
powers known to history — that of Norway, of the Italian City 
Republics with Amalfi at their head, of France, and of the British 
empire. 

Surely Cicero told the truth when he wrote to his friend 
Atticus. "Qui mare tenet, eum necesse est rerum potiri, " which 
which means about the same thing as when Bjorson sings : 

"The sea has given us 
Our honor and our power." 



54 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

6. By their voyages and discoveries they have widened im- 
mensely the geographical horizon and given the world important 
information about strange peoples in new lands. 

7. While bringing the great Germanic migration to an end, 
they founded new nationalities and built new states. 

8. In religion, in literature, and in art they have made con- 
tributions of permanent value. In this connection one peculiar 
characteristic of the Norman rule in Sicily deserves to be men- 
tioned: Centuries before the German author Lessing wrote his 
"Nathan the Wise", in which he advocated general tolerance in 
religious beliefs, Count Roger and his successors realized this 
beautiful idea on their fair island in the Mediterranean. 

But while the vikings in so many ways and in so many dif- 
ferent countries have contributed to make the world what it is 
to-day, it should not be forgotten that their influence was felt 
also in their homelands. Many, perhaps most of them, remained 
away and amalgamated with the newly-formed peoples. But 
many also returned home. And they did not return home only 
with gold and silver and fine raiments. They brought back with 
them to their old homes new ideas and views that acted like a 
spur and a stimulant on the cultural development of their own 
nations. 



HOLLO OF NORMANDY 5!> 



NORMANNIC 
WORD-LIST. 



, 'ROLLO OF NORMANDY 57 

Normannic Word-List. 

The following list of words has been- collected to show the 
near relationship existing between the Old Norse, Modern Nor- 
wegian, Old Norman, Modern French, and English languages, 
especially as regards sea-terminology. This list is far from com- 
plete, but may serve the purpose. For such words as are found 
in three or more of these cognate languages, the word "Norman- 
nic" is used as a distinguishing designation, and as the word is 
not found or used in. English dictionaries, it cannot be misunder- 
stood. "Normannic" words are words found in Old Norse, Nor- 
wegian, Old Norman, French, or English, and having a common 
,01d Norse origin or derivation. In some cases it is difficult to 
say whether the word derives from Old Norse, or is originally 
derived from some other language. Such words have an interro- 
gation point after them. Words marked with an asterisk are 
French words of undoubted Old Norse origin. 

In this same list are some words found only in Old Norse in 
order to show the comparative richness of that laHguge as re- 
gards sea- terms. 

A list of Norman-French place-names is added, and also a 
few other common words as well as Norman-French family* 
names. 

This, as far as known, is the most complete list of words of 
this kind ever published: 

athalhaf, the p*>en sea. 

adrykkr, a wave that breaks. 

afferma, unlade a- cargo. 

aflendis, in foreign lands. 

aflendr, far from land. 
*) agndr and ange, hook, fish-hook, Old Fr. ain. 

akkeri, anchor, Fr. anere. (?) 

aka, to move, to alter position, hence "aka seglum". 

aktaumr, rope by which the sail, fastened to the yards, was 
held in position. In Laxdola saga it is said: "Thorarinn 
styrdi ok hafdi aktaumans um herdar ser (round his 
shoulders), thvi at throngt var a skipinu." 

alda, big wave. 



58 ROLLO OP NORMANDY * 

andoefa, to handle the boat by means of the oars so that it 

does not change its position. 
angr, bay, firth, like Hardanger. 
ar, oar. 

aurbord, the second plank from the keel. 
ausa, to bail out the water. 

*) bakbordi, larboard, in Fr. babord, the left side of a ship look- 
ing from the stern forward. So called because the "sty- 
ri" or rudder was on the right side of the ship in those 
days, and the "styrimadr," or steersman had to occupy 
such a position that he turned his "back" to the other 
side (bord), which thus came to be named "bakbordi." 

*) bakki, a bank or ridge of land, Fr. banque. The fishermen 
from Normandy, who frequent the banks of Newfound- 
land, still call the ice-line in the ocean "banquise". 

*) bakn, beacon, Norw. baun, Old Fr. baucan, a standard. 

bara, a tidal surge in a river, a billow caused by wind. In 
"Wales the tidal wave is still called the "bore". 'So the old 
Norsemen said: "Vant er at sigla milli skers ok baru," 
accustomed to sail between rocks and waves. 

*) batr, boat Fr. bateau. 

bauta, to beat one's way, to go about. Connects itself with 
Emg. bout, originally spelled bought, from Old Norse 
bugtha, a bend, a serpent's coil. In French it becomes 
"bout" in the meaning of "end", from Qld Fr. bautan. 
The modern Scandinavian words "bugt", "bugtning", 
and "bugne" sufficiently explain the original meaning olf 
the word. 

*) beisk, angry, has formed itself into the 0. Fr. verb "bis- 
quier", to be angry. In modern French the verb is 
"bisquer", to be vexed, but the learned. French etymo- 
logist, Erachet, true to his apparent inclination, common 
to other linguists, to find as few "Normannic" words in 
French as possible, adds "origin unknown". 

*) beita, pasture. The 0. Fr. "abet", meaning a bait, lure, has 
gone into English with the sense of incitement, hence de- 



iROLLO OF NORMANDY 53 

ception.. The original meaning is "to make to bite", 
hence "bait". 
*) bekkr, beck, stream, is found in many English and French 

place-names and family names. 
*) biti, is found in the English "bitts", two strong posts stand- 
ing- up on deck to which cables are fastened. In 0. Fr. 
bitte. In modern Scandinavian "bedding". 
bjarg, in 0. Fr. "berge", a bank (as of a ditch). 
blaer, a gust of wind. 
bodi, a billow, wave. 

bogr, bow of the ship. The only French word in which it 
seems to be found is in "beaupre", bowsprit, which is said 
to be a modern word. 
*) bol, a farmstead, found in some local names in Normandy. 
*) bolli, bowl, 0. Fr. "bolle". Brachet says that the modern 
French "bol", Eng. bowl, is a borrowed modern word. 
bolr, the trunk of a tree, becomes 
■*) bolvirki, when several logs are placed horizontally for protec* 
tion against the sea; in Eng. "bulwark", which in French 
■ becomes "boulevard". 
*) bord, a ridge, 0. Fr. "bort", now called "bord" in em- 
broidery. Whether the Scandinavian word "kant", Eng. 
cant, meaning edge, or corner, is of Normannic origin, is 
as yet uncertain. 
borg, terrace with high land or a steep cliff behind it, and 
itself having a steep declivity down to the sea, so that it 
can be easily defended, is found in many Norman place- 
names as "bourg", either as a prefix or as a suffix. 
forandr, a strong piece of wood placed at the stem (stafn) of 
the ships. Wace, in his famous poem "Le Roman de 
Rou", verse 6475 seq., says: "Sor le chief de la nef de- 
vant, que marinier apelent "brant", ont de conire fait un 
enfant, saete et arc tender portant". Charles de la Ron- 
ciere, in his brilliant work "l'Histoire de la Marine Fran- 
chise", is of the opinion that the French "beaupre" need 
■not, as Jal thinks, come from the Engl, "bowsprit", since 
the earliest known form ojf the word is "bropie". This 



60 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

makes de la Ronciere fall back on "brant" as the possible 
clue to the etymology of the first part "bro", and he says 
in this connection that "the Scandinavians knew about 
the bowsprit, since they sometimes used a triangular sail 
in the front df the ship supported by a small mast. 

*) brim, a billow, brine, in Old Fr. "brime". 

brimsteinn, brimstone, a stone exposed to the "brim" or 
surge. 

*) brudr, bride, 0. Fr. bru, a newly married woman. 

brudgumi, bridegroom, 0. Fr. bruman, a newly married man. 

*) brygga, bridge, 0. Fr. brug, found in Brugges, a famous sea- 
port of Belgium, and in several place-names in Normandy. 
The original is the Old Norse "bru", a bridge. 

*) brynja, a cuirass, 0. Fr. "broigne." 

bu, inhabited landscape, a suffix of many well-known place- 
names in Norway, and Scandinavia in general, such as 
Austbu, Foldabu, Rennabu, Ringabu, Sparbu, Falsterbo 
etc. Also found in place-names in Normandy. 

*) bugrlina, bowline, Fr. bouline. In the "Pilgrim's Sea Voy- 
age" it is said: "Hale the boweline. 
bylgja, billow. The same word. 
bylr, a violent squall. 
byrr, means fair wind. 

*) dalr, dale, in innumerable place-names, both in the Scandi- 
navian countries, in England, and in Normandy. In Ger= 
man it is "tal", and this German form of the word may be 
found in some French words indicating a valley. 

*) diki, a dike, a ditch with its embankment, 0. Fr. "dicque", 
mod. Fr. "dique", which Brachet says is of German 
origin. 

*) djup, a place where there is much water, found in French in 
the name of the city of Dieppe, concerning which city de 
la Ronciere remarks: "Besides language, there is another 
indication of the impulse given to shipping, by the arrival 
of the Northmen, namely the creation of the new sea-ports 
of Dieppe (nor. deep), Harfleur, Hon fleur, Barfleur". 

*) dreki, a warship, 0. Fr. "drague". 

*) dubba, to dubb or create a knight. In 0. Fr. "adous" means 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 61 

ornament, decoration, and "adouber" in French means to 
strike the knight with the flat of the sword. As the 0. 
Norse "dubba" means to strike, it is clearly the NoJr= 
mans who have introduced the customs of knighthood. 

dus, meaning a calm, may be, and very likely is, of romance 
origin. The old vikings, besides being great shipbuilders, 
navigators, warriors, and merchants, were also! excellent 
linguists, and it is quite natural that in their wander- 
ings all over the world they should introduce into their 
own language such words of the foreign languages with 
which they came in contact as would serve their needs. 

eikja, canoe, boat, 0. Pr. "acque". This word has given the 
to some linguistic controversy. The word is found in Ger- 
man as "ak", in Norw. dialect as "eike". One etymolo- 
gist suggests that the word may have lost an initial "n" 
and may come from- navis, navs, (navi — nag). Another 
thinks that "sn" (initial) may have somehow gotten lost, 
- — like many other people, linguists have to look for lost 
syllables and letters, — and that the word was originally 
from a root "sna" or "snu", to move, to run, to float, to 
swim, etc. Hence schnicke, schnacke, schmacke, smak in 
German dialects, and smack in English, semaque in 
French, semaca in Spanish and Portugues, zumaca in Ita- 
lian, finally "snekke" in Norwegian. Now, the English 
"smack", fishing-boat, very likely comes ultimately 
from the Old Norse "snekkja", a small sailing vessel, and 
may in the final analysis connect up with snake (0. N. 
snakr), and sneak (0. N. snikja). On the other hand, 
"eikja", a small boat made oiut of the trunk of a tree 
(perhaps an oak-tree) would seem to have gone too far 
from home in looking for relationship with snakes. Yet, 
language is a wonderful thing, and nobody can tell what 
will ultimately becotaie of a word when it first gets started 
away from home. 
*) fara, to go, fare, 0. Pr. fara, — from which 

farkostr, a vessel, and many other names signifying travel, as 
"farman", "ferja" etc. 



62 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

ferma, to place the "farmr" or cargo on board a ship. In 
English "feorm'", "farina", in 0. Fr. "ferine", in Low 
Latin "ftrma", meant "food, hospitality, property", and 
also feast, farm, tribute, from Latin firmus, meaning firm, 
steadfast, durable. Hence "farm", in the sense of culti- 
vated land, and "firm" (Norw. firma), in the sense of an 
oath-bound or legal partnership in business, may both 
come from the same root. 
*) floi, pi. floir, is the French ending fleur (fjord) in Barfleur, 
Harfleur, Honfleur. 
flaust and fley were both in 0. Norse names o^ ships smaller 
than "langskibe". 
*) flod, flood, river, in French place-names "not". 
*) frjosa, to freeze, 0. Fr. "fricun". 

*) gardh, pro v. Engl, garth, mod. Engl, yard (an enclosed court) 
. 0. Fr. garth. Very common in place-names in the Scand- 

inavian countries and allied to German "garten", a gar- 
den. In most combinations it means a piece of ground, as 
in "apaldrsgarth", "dyrgardhr", "eplagarthr", "ar- 
garthr", "austagarthr", "aslakgardhr"; also in cities, as 
"Birgisgarthr" in Bergen, and similar names in Oslo and 
other larger towns. 
*) greidi, to put in order, 0. Fr. greer; mod. Fr. greer, to rig, 
Brachet derives it from Gothic "ge-raidjan"; but there 
does not seem any need of going so far back, as it is al= 
most absolutely certain that the French, language and 
people, actually got all their "greier", 0. Fr. agres, words 
,and things, for a sea-faring life from the Northmen, with 
the exception of a few of Celtic or Latin origin. That 
many if not all of the Old Norse sea-terms have their roots 
in the common Teutonic mother-language, or in the colm,- 
mon Aryan mother-language goes without saying. Thus 
, . many cognate words will be found in Celtic, Latin, Greek, 
and Sankrit, as well as in Gothic, and Old High German. 
But this does not disprove the historical fact that the 
large majority of Old French sea-terms are of Old Norse, 
not, as Brachet says, of German origin. 
gaarding, in "bug-gaarding", is found^in the Old Fr. "gard- 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 63 

inges", from Old N. "gjord", in mod. Eng, girth.' 
*) grima, a mask, also means the figure of a man put up in the 
prow of the vessel. Hence the word grimace, French as it 
is in looks, is formed from the 0. Norse "grima", and 
means an ugly look. 
*) grith, peace, 0. Fr. grith, found in 

grithstole, sanctuary. 
*) hala, to haul, hale, Fr. haler. h . 

halsa segl, take in sail, in the English word .hawser. . , 
hasegl, topsail. 
*) haugr, hill, found in many French place-names. 
*) heisa, hoist, Old Fr. hisser. To derive this simple word from 
the Greek "hypsos", height, as Jal and Ducange try to 
do, seems farfetched. Skeat says it is borrowed from the 
'Scandinavian ; but Brachet is more friendly to the German. 
hella, a flat, hard stone, is found in at least one place-name in 

Normandy, but may be from the name of a person. 
hie, lee, a shelter place, the part of a ship away from the 

wind. 
hlid, the side of a mountain, found as "li" in French place- 
names. 
hlummr, the handle of the oar. 

hlunnr, one of the "stocks" used when a ship is hauled on 
land. 
*) holnir, holme, 0. Fr. haume. 

hrefni, the fifth plank of a vessel counting from' the keel. 
hregg, storm, strong wind. 
hrof, shelter, roof. 
*) hus, house, 0. Fr. hause or hus. 

hvarf, wharf, a place on land for lading and unloading goods. 
*) hofn, haven, port, harbour, found in French place-names. 
jata or jatta, opposite of neita, to repeat what others say; in 
0. Fr. gatte ( ?) 
*) kjollr, keel, Fr. quille. f 

klo, clew (on a sail)- 
*) knifr, knife, 0. Fr. ganif. 

*) knutr, knot, 0. Fr. noeud. — Noeud Gabriet, the Adam's apple. 
knorr, pi. knarrar, a large vessel. 



64 



R O L L O OF NORMANDY 



*) 
*) 



*) 



*> 
*) 



kolga, a billow, wave. 

land, land, is found in French place=names. 

nes, ness (preserved in place-names all- around the coast of 
England) , found as nez in the names of French promon- 
tories. 

Northmen is the name given in "Jomfru Marias Saga" to 
Kollo and his men who conquered Normandy. 

nokkvi, boat, vessel. This word may have something to do 
with the latin word "navis". 0- Fr. esneque. 

raf, ro&f ; on board a ship in modern Norw. "ruf." 

reidir, the things that go to the full equipment of a ship. Fr. 
agres. 

rek (for vrek), wreck, what is floating about on the sea or 
driven ashore. 

rif, reef, a ridge of rocks. 

rif, reef, as in a sail. Skeat says that both names areDutch. 

rong, rib or curved side-timber, to which the boards (J|r planks 
are fastened. Fr. varangue or varengue, the ground-tim- 
ber of a ship. 

scadu, scathe, damage, Old Fr. escaud. 

segl, sail, whence Fr. cingler, to sail, make sail. 

sigla, to sail, 0. Fr. sigler. 

sigla, the mast of a ship.. 

siglubiti, the cross-timber in the ship to which the mast is 
fastened. 

skaut, sheet, 0. Fr. e'coute. 

skeid, the largest kind of a warship. 

skip, ship. 0. Fr. escuif. 

skipa, to arrange, put things in shape. 0. Fr. equiper meant 
to harness a horse, and so the very French-sounding and 
romance-looking "equipage" has nothing to do with the 
Latin, equus, horse, but meant originally the rigging of a 
ship, as equiper to-day in French means "to rig a ship". 
Later it was transferred to agriculture and meant to har- 
ness a horse. 

skuta, a small vessel, 0. Fr- scnte. 

snokkva, 0. Fr. esneque. (See nokkvi). 



ROLLO OF NORMANDY 65 

spissa, to splice, 0. Fr. episser. The French and English 
words may be from Dutch splitsen; but in Sondmore and 
in the Northern part of Norway they still say "spissa'.' 

.*) sponn, a span (measure of a hand), 0. Fr. empan or espan. 

*) stafnsbord, in French etambot, in earlier Fr. etambord. 

*) stafr, staff, 0. Fr. etrave. 

*) stag, stay ('for the mast), 0- Fr. etai. 

*) stjombordi, starbord, Fr. tribord. 

*) strid, strife, 0. Fr. estrif. 

*)-Styri, helm, 0. Fr. estiere. 

*) styrimadr, steersman, 0. Fr. esturman. 

*) toga, to tqw, Fr. touer. 

tol, tool and tolakista, tool-chest. 

■*) topt or tupt, the place (lot) Avhere a house is built. Found 
alone and in many composite words as husatopt, skala 
topt, kirkjutopt. In many French-place names tot- 

*) thilja, the flooring in a boat, in Fr. tillac. 

*) thollr, a thole, Fr. tolet. 

*) thveit, thwaite, a piece of ground, in Fr. touait, found in a 
place-name. 

*) vagr, wake, wave, 0. Fr. ouage, mod. Fr. vague. 



SCANDINAVIAN PLAOE=NAMES IN NORMANDY. 

The admittedly Scandinavian endings or suffixes in Norman- 
French place-names are : — beuf, bu, ham, hou, tot hus, torp, vast, 
, — fleur, — bee, bieu, — mare, — boel, — land, — briscq — kirch, crique, 
— barn, — gard, grunne, — tuit, — londe. 
Bee, fr. 0. N. bekkr. 

The "bees" of Normandv abound in Seine-Inferieur and in 
Manche- In 'Haute Normandie we find Caudebec, Houlbec, Bol- 
bec, Bolbec, Robec, Varengebec, Bricquebec, Carbec, Visebec, 
Querbec. (In Canada, Quebec belongs to the same category of 
names, and Krennebec is the "bee" of the "grune" or marsh.) 

Beuf, also found as bot, bi, by, boc, but, bye, from 0. N. bu, 
(Norw. bygd). So we find Dalboe, Darbeuf. Belbeuf, Quille- 
beuf, 'St. G-. de Tournebu, Carquebu, Le Buat, Buais, Elbeuf. Bye 
is found in Hambye and Houguebye. 

Bol, meaning farmstead, is found in Bolbec, Bolleville, La 
Bouille, Bouillon, Bouleville, Bq'ulon. 



66 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

Creque, crique, croque from O. N. Kriki, a nook, a creek, is 
found in Craquevik, Criquebeuf, Criqutot, Cfequeville. 

Dale, 0. N. dalr, valley, is found in Dippedale, Beckdal 
Bruquedal, Cudale, Oudalle. 

Elf, a river, is found in words like Neaufles, St. Martin, 
Neaufles sur Rile, Neauphe-sur-Dives, Ueauphe sous Essai. These 
words are apparently made up of the Celtic Noe, meaning a moist 
place, and the 0. N. elf, meaning a river. 

Elle seems to be the same word as elf, as found in Elboeuf, 
Eletal, Ellecourt, unless it is Helle with the loss of H. 

Ey, 0. N. ey, an island, is found in Jersey, .Guernesey, Cb.au- 
isey, Alderney, Aurigney and others. 

Fiehe, 0. N. fisk. fish, is found in Fecamp, although pretty 
well concealed. Fecamp is namely Fiscannum from "Fiskar- 
hafn", fisherman's harbor. 

Flieur, fieur, fleur is a common ending of several well known 
sea ports, and is derived from 0. N. fleot, floi (pi, floir), f jordr, as 
in Barfleur, Harfleur, Hon.fleur Ficueflieur (Fiskef jord) VitteT, 
flieur, (Kvitef'jord) and others. 

Homme is from 0. N. holmr. Even meadows on the shoXe 
with ditches behind them are in Iceland called "holms", whence 
"holmgang". 

Hou is a common suffix as in Nehou, Quettehou, Pirou, Ble= 
hou. Hougue, h-jgue, fr. O. N. "hougr, " is found in La Hougue, 
Houguebec, La Houguette de Bouillon and others. "Jarl" and 
"bauta" have formed a conbination in "Jarlebout" as the name 
■of a rock near Omontville, in the Hague. 

Nes, fr. 0. N. nes, promontory, is found in many places, such 
as Le Gro«=Nes (Stornassset) de Flamanville, Le Nes de Jobourg, 
Le Nes de Querqueville, Le Nes de Carteret, Le Nes de Tanear. 
ville, Le Nes-roc etc. 

The "vies", as already before stated, are quite naturaUy 
numerous in Normandy, since "vikings" found and named them. 
There is Sanvic near Havre, and along the whole sea-coast is 
found a Avhole line of "vies" to attest the presence of the Nor- 
mans from AA 7 itsani and Quentvic in Artois to Catervik in Hol- 
land- But it is in the Hague and its vicinity that the most "vies" 
are found, — Plainvic, Pulvie, Solvic, Survic etc. 









ROLLO OP NORMANDY 67 

PLACE-NAMES OF SCANDINAVIAN ORIGIN IN THE 
VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS. 

Department d'Orne. 

Fel — Lande (in five names) — Landigou — Neauphe (in two 
names, Ranes, — Bellou-en-Houlme, Bazoches-en-Houlme. 
Department d'Eure. 

Qnillebeuf — Routot — Bourgetherould — Le Bee Hellouin — 
Broglie. 

Departement d 'Eure-et-Loire. 

Brou — Bu — Ecrosnes — Epeautrolles — Flacey ■ — Houville — 
Houx — Langey — Vienvicq. 

Departement de Calvados. % 

Amblie — Annebecq — Bellou — Le Bon — Boissey — Branville — 
Bricqueville — Le Bu-sur=Rouvresi — Clarbec — Cordey — Ghricque- 
boeuf — Cricqueville, (en Auge and en Bessin)- — Cristot — Danesta] 
— Donvres — Drnbec — Druval — Escramm>eville — Epaney — Ernes — 
Escoville — Etreham— Fiqnefleur — Firfol — Garnetot — Le Ham — < 
Hamars — Heuland — Honfienr — -Hotot — Langrune — Maltot — Nor- 
rey — Orbee — Osmanville — Ouistreham — Plumetot — Putot — ■ 
Qnettevillei — Sommervien — Snrville — ^Torteval — Totes — -Tournebn 
— Tourville — Trouville — Vieques. 

Departement de la Manche. 

Angey — Ancey — Anderville — Barflenr — Barneville — 
Boncey — Bonrey — Bricey — Brehal — Bricquebec — Branval 
( a small river) — Bricquebosq — Bricqueville , — Carquebnt — 
Chalandrey — Champ cey — Chasseguey — Colomby — Cnrey — 
Dennerville — Dragey — Dncey — Ecoqueneouville — Eculle- 
ville — Fermanville — Flotteraanville — Foucarville — Gatheme 
— Garville — Graignes — Grand-'Celland — Le Ham — Ham- 
bye — Helleville — Herqueville — Houesville — Huisnes — 
Lande — d'Airon — Landemer — Lengronne — Lingeard — Le 
Sorey — Macey — Marcey — Ma^rtinvast — Mobecq — Moon- 
sur-Elle. — Nacqueville — Nenon — Petit-Clelland — Pirou — ■ 
Precey — Pretot — Qnerqneville — Qnettehojai — Qnettetot — 
Qnettreville — Quibon — Quineville — Roncey — Ronthon — 



68 ROLLO OF NORMANDY 

Sacey Saint-Osvin — St. Vaast-la-Hougue — Saussey — Solte- 
vast — Sourdeval — Surville — Teurtheville — Tourlaville — 
Tribehou — ■ Trottebec (a river) — Varenguebee — Vesly — Ves- 
rey — Virey — Vrasville — Vretot — Yvetot. 

Departement de la Sdine — Inferieure. 

Auppegard — Autretot — Avesne's — Bacqueville — Beau- 
bee — Beautot — Le Bee de Mortagne — - Belbeuf — Bennetot — 
Bois-Heroult ■ — Balbec — Bolleville — Bondeville — Bourg- 
Dun — Bo'urville — Bourgetheroulde ■ — Bouville — Bracque- 
mont — ■ Bracquetuit — Brametot — Butot — ■ Caudebec (en 
Caux and les Elbeuf) — La Crique — Criquebeuf — Criquetot 
('four places) — Critot — Croixdalle — Danvourt — Darnetal — 
Denestanville — Dieppe — Douvrend — Ectot — Elbeuf — Ele- 
tot — Ellecourt — Epretot — Estelles — Etainhus — Etalville 

— Etretat — Fefcamp — Flocues — Foueart — Freauville — 
Fry — Fultot — Goderville — Gonnetot — Harfleur — Hautot 

(five places) Le Havre — La Haye — Heugleville — Heuque- 

ville — Houdetot — Le Houlme — Houquetot — Hhigleville en 
Can — Ingoraville — Lanquetot - — Lindebeuf — Lintot (two 
places) — La Londe — Louvetot — Nesle-Nodeng — Nesle-Nor- 
mandeuse — Nointot — Norville — Notre Dame de Bliquetuit — 
Notre Dame de Bondeville — Notre Dame du Bee — Omonville 

— Oudalle — Raffeto't — Robertot — Rouville — Ry — Sanvic 

— Sommery ■ — Tancarville — Therouldeville — Totes - — Le 
Torys — Mesnil — Turretot — Varengeville sur Mer — Vattetot 
sur Mer — Vatteville — Vergetot — Vibeuf — Yvetot. 

SURNAMES AND CHRISTIAN NAMES. 
Even among surnames a few of plain Norse origin may be 
found without going from house to bouse, such Boe, Foulque. 
Gardin, Grimard, Taillefer (Tholeifr), Havard, Havron, Tlerche. 
Thuit (Tveit). Talihou (Tollehoug-Thorleifshoug.) 

Tlie following Christian names are clearly Scandinavian: — ■ 
Ygouf, Ozouf, Niel, Gor, Regnier. Regnault, Ilostingue, Devic. 



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